Thoughts at noon on free speech

After recently reading a number of classical dialogues it seems to me we need to develop a more sensitive approach to hate speech, or even controversial opinions. Practically speaking this means not banning hate speech altogether but rather moderating the venue through which it is heard. Some moderation is needed because hate speech can incite violence, but it seems to me this effect depends not so much on the content of the speech, but on the context in which it is heard. For example (an extreme one), I have no doubt that a dark-skinned person who happens to wander into a neo-Nazi rally being held in the backwoods of some place should fear for his or her well-being if not life. Yet the same racist ideology presented in the form of a dialogue, with the opportunity for opposing views to be heard, rather than inciting violence, would no doubt come off looking quite absurd. By handling hate speech in a way that shuts down dialogue and makes such speech illegal even, I'm afraid we force the ideas that inform it underground.

In some ways this may seem naïve. Do I really have so much faith in the power of reasoned dialogue, or in the public use of reason? Does a broader exposure of the public to hate speech not disseminate the very ideas we'd like to disempower? Does the kind of dialogue I'm speaking of not exclude those who have not inherited or practice a kind of academic skepticism, that is a particular kind of European intellectual dialogue?

First of all, yes I do have faith in the power of reasoned dialogue and people's ability to decide which views resonate with goodness, happiness, and justice. We won't always agree on the particulars, but that's why it's important to have these conversations, if only to make one another aware that we are operating under different definitions of goodness, etc. I once heard this kind of discussion referred to as "agonistic" (as opposed to antagonistic), the idea being that sometimes entering into dialogue with others is a painful experience, but one that despite the pain can potentially lead to shared perspectives, a greater appreciation for the other, and further development of our ideas.

Secondly, allowing hate speech (or even controversial ideas) on the public stage certainly exposes more people to the reasoning and thought processes of those who espouse it. I'm not sure we should assume this exposure automatically leads to more disciples however. It seems to me it is precisely these underground expressions of hate speech that create the most followers, while public expressions in the form of a dialogue might help expose potential candidates for discipleship to opposing views and/or destabilize those who already hold such views. A dialogue isn't a monologue. Important thing to keep in mind.

Thirdly, there may be some merit in critiquing this model of dialogue. One can imagine a situation in which a highly polished hate speech orator, skilled in rhetoric and debate, shares the stage with a poor farmer from the outskirts of Conakry. The very form the dialogue takes in a way sets the farmer up, if not for failure, than perhaps embarrassment (which may be the same under Western terms of debate). And yet, dialogue has been used to settle disputes, share ideas, and come to general agreement over matters, for thousands of years. A more inclusive model of dialogue is required. This calls for experimentation and patience. In Canada (and no doubt other places) Indigenous People's models are already being actualized in the service of communal healing and cross-cultural sharing. The success of these models on a larger stage will be proved by their use, i.e. -actually engaging- in alternative forms of dialogue.

Evelyn Beatrice Hall once summed up Voltaire regarding free speech: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." What if we qualify this by adding that the "right to say it" extends especially into the public realm of dialogue where what is said might have the greatest impact on the well-being of those it is said about, and where the opportunity to hear other voices is made that much more vital to the enterprise of living in a community where ideas can, and do, shape the world.

Virgil translation

Ibant obscure sola sub nocte per umbras, Perque domos Ditis vacuas et inania regna. -Virgil

On they faintly went beneath the lonely night, amid shadows, through Death's empty dwelling and hollow realm.

Amanita muscaria

Photo: www.earnestlyseekingthereal.blogspot.ca

Amanita muscaria.  Hamilton, ON (Click on image for larger picture).

When dreams die

We sat at a table overlooking the water.  The setting sun filled the air with fire, licking the edges of the cafe's tables and chairs.  But on such a beautiful evening your eyes were filled with tears.  Your marriage was disintegrating.  The man you loved, and still love, treats you more like an enemy than a friend.

When dreams die, we die with them... a part of us anyway.

There wasn't anything I wouldn't do for you.  You know that.  But I couldn't say the magic words to make your marriage better, though by God if I knew them, I swear I would. 

I remember when you were a little girl, how the joy used to shine from your eyes like sunbeams from heaven.  I remember the way you laughed and crinkled up your nose.  Now I look at you and watch the tears stream from those eyes and drip from the end of your nose.  Knowing what I know now would I have tried to stop your marriage?  It's an impossible thought, a useless one.  I shake my head.  Looking at the water I'm filled with the need to do something for you, anything, but I stay quiet. 

After you say goodbye and return home I remain at our table.   The water is darker now and the lights along the harbourfront are on.  A cool breeze begins to blow across the bay. 

Dreams die.  Oh my heart was breaking for you. 

All those dreams you had for your marriage have faded like the setting sun, only there will be no rising the next day.  But, and I am filled with a sliver of growing hope at the thought, the sun will rise on other possibilities, brand new possibilities!  You'll love again and have new dreams.

Rising to my feet I am elated.  Yes, I know you will thrive and be happy once more.  I've made up my mind to do something for you that very night.  After returning to our home I'll sign the divorce papers and hand them to you myself. 

Robin Williams (1951-2014)

Hard to believe it's been a year already. 
Rest in peace Robin Williams.

From love to Love

Those who say love should be "properly oriented" know little of love or love's potential.  Augustine believed those things which are subject to change must lack in perfection and therefore love should be oriented to the one unchangeable being: God.  But he failed to realize that love demonstrates its true power in being directed at and sustaining the changeable:

"God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

But the love the thirteenth apostle spoke of (a love that in order to count for anything in death, had to first live) was betrayed by those later writers who made a mockery of this "demonstration" by having Jesus "ascend into the clouds" while his disciples stood gaping at love raised to the level of an abstraction.  The whole world was left to love Love.

From the Book of Coming Up

I went to the Master and sat at his feet. 
   Then he said, "Verily I tell you, whosoever will provoke the Son of Man will himself be provoked.  Those who wish to come to the Father must kill me.  The guests will not be satisfied with an emissary, nor does one hold a key without opening the door. 
   Split a piece of wood and I am there, but what is there when you are split in two?
  
A prophecy

   A time is coming soon when the foundations of the West will shake and the ocean rise.  On that day the cry to heaven will be great and many will perish.  Some will say it is because of the sin of Eden; others will claim it is the end of all things.  Do not believe the things they say in the agonies of their terror.  Rather say, 'These things are the beginning of the unrest.  They are a sign.'  For this reason you must go tell the people of the West to flee their homes.  When they ask what way they should go say to them, 'To the Rising Sun.'"
   After the Master had said these things I asked him, "What are those things a sign of, and what is the coming unrest?"
   He replied, "They are a sign of the unrest itself, which is much greater than the sign.  All signs serve something greater.  So too, the destruction of the earth will point to a worse unrest.  This will not be something one can prepare for or avoid, and destruction will find them no matter how far they flee."
   After this he left me to wonder at his words and the coming time.

The birth of natural religion

There are many different religious traditions, and they all hold their beliefs regarding the universe, human creatures, the meaning of life, etc., to be more or less correct.

Many of these religious traditions are quite ancient. Even though they presume to be divinely guided, the recipients of revelation, witnesses of miracles, etc., the only evidence they have is the testimony of others, passed on from generation to generation, and anecdotal stories that seem to support their assumptions. 

What if starting today you choose to set aside the old traditions about deities and spirits, and look at the world with these beliefs bracketed or unassumed? Would the gods or God make an appearance at all? Without your former presuppositions, would you find even a hint of the old gods in the world around you? 

This is a challenge to those who have received their beliefs from others.  What do you see if you use your own eyes?

Colour Changing Card Trick

Little brown park mushroom

Photo: www.earnestlyseekingthereal.com

Another unidentified saprobe.  Ancaster, ON.  (Click on photo for larger image).

Little white mushroom

Photo: www.earnestlyseekingthereal.com

Unidentified saprophyte.  My guess is Mycena or Coprinoid.  Ancaster, ON.  (Click on photo for larger image).

Voyeuse

sighs and soft skin
wrapped afternoons
can i speak of satisfactions with you?
once claimed
once given
once turned aside by moral considerations
still lingering
your voice says it all
notions
unshakeable principles
strawmen reduced to chaff
by more natural inclinations
yet you're happy to be my confessor?
my speech moves something
inside you
lingering like a voyeuse
refusing nature with glances
head cocked twinkling eyes
you lick your lips
preferring ideas to
the real
(a religious rejection)

it will be too late
but not for regrets

Cardinalis cardinalis

Cardinalis cardinalis Photo: www.earnestlyseekingthereal.com

Northern Cardinal.  Ancaster, ON May 26, 2015 (click on photo for larger view).

Polysporus squamosus

Polysporus squamosus- Photo: www.earnestlyseekingthereal.com

Polysporus squamosus, or "Dryads Saddle."  Hamilton, Ontario, May 9, 2015.  (Click on photo for larger image).

Pluteus longistriatus

Pluteus longistriatus- Photo: www.earnestlyseekingthereal.com 

I've identified this as Pluteus longistriatus (is the dark ring around the base of the pileus common?).  Discovered in Hamilton, Ontario, May 19, 2015.  (Click on photo for larger version).